Is Jake Morris the Next Urijah Faber – Rumble at The Roseland

Of course it’s way too early in Jake Morris‘ career to start calling him the next Urijah Faber. Jake Morris turned eighteen three days before the fortieth installment of the Rumble at the Roseland and his fight against Brandon Alderman was his first amateur MMA bout. But as Morris leaps to his feet after pounding Alderman to a stoppage the resemblance was there.

Morris is a two time high school collegiate wrestling state champion, but on Saturday night it was clear he was out to prove in his debut that he was an extremely strong stand up fighter. Exploding at the start Morris rained down punches on Alderman, so many that the action was stopped for a wild head shot blow that drew a warning for Morris. The stoppage did little to slow the tempo of the match with Morris dominating Alderman before quickly finishing him off in the first round.

Morris wasn’t the only stand out at The Rumble at The Roseland. Female fighter Jody De Simone made an explosive debut against Christa Shaffer. Outweighed, out reached and far less experienced De Simone proved just how dangerous it is to underestimate her. Within moments of the start Jody De Simone was all over Christa Shaffer quickly taking her down to a choke that ended the match a mere forty seconds after it began and leaving Shaffer blacked out on the canvas.

De Simone’s performance was a perfect example of just how exciting women’s MMA can be as this fight proved to be one of the 2 fights of the night (and far surpassed many of the men’s bouts).

Other notable fights included:

Justin Mark v Travis Sue – Travis Sue is an older fighter who fights out of Team Quest. Justin Martin didn’t seem to take Sue seriously enough and paid dearly when Sue took the bout by a dominating choke.

John Bartlett v Ben Egli – Two younger undefeated fighters out on a solid fight with good exchanges with their stand up game in the first round, but Bartlett ended the round on top with a commanding ground and pound. The fight didn’t go much further with Bartlett working Egli to the ground and defeating the 3-0 Engli with a monster choke.Dan Gordon v Tony Sandbothe – Dyanmic punching by Dan Gordon almost puts Tony Sandboothe out on his feet, instead Sandboothe holds it together only to get a blood bath with power punches from Gordon. Gordon ends the extremely bloody match with a TKO that leaves Sandboothe bloody and on his back on the canvas.

One of the fights I was really looking forward to Janna Piper v. Jessica Porter got scratched because of weight issues. This was going to be Jessica’s last fight before turning pro. Jessica faced Kim Coutoure in her MMA debut and looks to be an extremely promising professional fighter.

Of fourteen fights at least ten of the fights at the Rumble at The Roseland were really good (a fantastic ratio for a MMA event). The only two really disappointing fights of the night were: Ryan Cribba v. Jake Richmon, with the two heavyweights looking gassed out after the first half of the first round and Tom Matijac v Pro Escobedo, while Tom Matijac literally looks like Superman he did nothing but tie up Pro Escobedo in a 3 round holding match that never got off the ground.

But overall you really couldn’t ask for a better evening of Mixed Martial Arts.

I was told at the weigh in that the bout was scratched due to Janna being 5 pounds under. Sorry I was not told that the other fighter was over. In any case it was a shame those two couldn't fight, it would have been a really excellent bout.

Janna and Jessica are going to fight in January, assuming Jessica can make weight. Also Christa lost via a submission victory not a KO to Jody. That Christa was the only fighter to not bother to tap was what put her to sleep. Congratulations to Jody it was a good first fight performance for her.

just a couple of questions…have you ever heard of a fight being canceled because a fighter was under the contracted weight? have you ever heard of promoter asking a fighter if he/she's still willing to fight since his opponent is under-weight?….oh, and from confirmation w/ the commissioner prior to the fight, janna could have weighed as low as 115 (10 lbs below fight weight) & would have been allowed to fight if jessica made weight.

I made the correction in the piece, went off the information that was given to me. Always appreciate feedback when we've gotten something wrong. Next time I'll make sure I get the commissioner on record with the precise call on why something was scratched.

Geoff Kleinman :
I made the correction in the piece, went off the information that was given to me.

i know, 'cause there was no mention of it by the time i read it. i just thought it funny that you would think a fight was canceled because a fighter was underweight; especially since when a fighter "doesn't make weight" it means they're overweight; if a fighter is under, he/she has made weight…. ;D